


Elonia

by liberallesbian37



Series: Project Team Beta's 2013 Writing Challenge [39]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 15:59:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liberallesbian37/pseuds/liberallesbian37
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All of the villages have a door. A door that is said to lead to another world. One boy decides to find out if the mysterious Elonia is real.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elonia

**Author's Note:**

> Challenge Number/Title: 39/The Blue Door  
> Date Posted: 12/22/13  
> Fandom: Original Fiction  
> Rating: M  
> Genre: Horror, Science Fiction  
> Content Descriptors: Not for faint of heart  
> Character Pairing: None

                They say the Blue Door leads to Elonia. I wouldn’t know; I’ve never been. I’ve thought about it, sure. Everyone in town thinks about it, but no one’s opened that door in at least a hundred years.

                It’s a beautiful door, the kind that has to be important. It had to have been new, at some point, but it’s nearly impossible to believe, looking at it now. The door’s blue, light blue, like the color you see on bird eggs, except it’s faded. There are two handles that they say are unlocked. Fear keeps people from entering.

                I don’t know how a simple little door attached to a house could lead to another world, but looking at the door I’d believe it. Maybe someday I’ll try to open it. Someday.

**

                Elonia is perfect. I designed it that way.  Once you come to Elonia, you never leave. That’s how perfect it is. There is an entrance to Elonia in all seven villages. Red for Village A, orange for Village B, yellow for Village C, green for Village D, blue for Village E, indigo for Village F, and violet for Village G. The villages have different stories and legends about Elonia, but few people actually believe them. Only the lucky ones.

**

                “I dare you to go through the Blue Door!” No. No way. I’m not going through that blue door.

                “What are you, a chicken?” Yes. I’m a chicken, and I don’t care what you think. I’m not going.

                “Mama says great-grandfather went through the Blue Door! Ain’t no one ever saw him again!” I yell finally. They all go silent, until the biggest brother laughs.

                “It’s just an abandoned house. Don’t be stupid.” But he doesn’t sound convinced.

**

                A girl from Village A wanders in today. She’s scared, crying and begging for me to let her go. But she should know that no one leaves Elonia. Why would anyone want to leave paradise?

**

                “I heard someone from Village A went missing last week,” the big brother says.

                “She walked right into the Red Door and didn’t come out,” the biggest brother adds. Mama smacks them both on the head.

                “Shut up, you two,” she says. The little brother whimpers.

                “Is it true, Mama?”

                “Of course not, darling. Your brothers are just teasing you. Isn’t that right, middle brother?” I nod. I don’t know though. If the Red Door is anything like the Blue Door, I’d believe it.

**

                The girl from Village A has stopped crying, stopped begging. Now she just sits in silence, staring at nothing. It won’t be long now, I decide. She’s not the one I want.

**

                “Mama! Today at school, Miss Teacher said the girl who went missing from Village A was kidnapped for being bad in class. Is that true?” the little brother asks. Mama doesn’t know what to say, I can tell.

                “Listen to your teacher, little brother,” she says finally. She wants to deny it, I know, but she can’t say anything bad about Miss Teacher. It’s against the law to go against the teachers.

**

                The rumors about the girl spread quickly. The villages aren’t supposed to talk to each other, but sometimes I have to step in. Make sure word gets around. So now everyone knows that the girl is missing. Soon the brave and stupid will start coming. I can only hope that one of them is the one.

**

                The little brother went missing yesterday. It was the biggest brother’s fault. He dared the little brother to go in the Blue Door, and the little brother did it. The big brother told Mama about it because he’d been there with the biggest brother. Mama beat them both last night. She’s gonna do it tonight, and the next night, and until the little brother comes home. But we all know he’ll never come home.

**

                The girl’s mother comes from Village A. A lost old man comes from Village B. A frightened five year old comes from Village E. This is the best they can give me? I let the mother be with her daughter. The old man is useless. And the boy isn’t quite right. He’s close, though. So close I can taste it.

**

                I’m going to do it. I’m going to go through the Blue Door. I’m going to find the little brother so the littlest brother will stop crying, and Mama will stop beating the big and biggest brothers. I have to do it.

**

                He’s here. The boy is here. The one I have been waiting for. I’ve given the others their injections. They’ll be ready in no time.

**

                I hear her before I see her.

                “I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time, middle brother,” she says from the darkness.

                “Where am I? How do you know my name?” I ask. Even as I ask, I know exactly where I am. The legends are true.

                “You’re in Elonia, my dear boy. All will be revealed in due time, middle brother.”

                “Where’s the little brother?” I ask.

                “Is that why you’re here? Is that really why you’re here?”

                Suddenly I don’t know.

                “Why else would I be here?”

                “You tell me, middle brother. You tell me.” Her voice is soothing, like a song. I feel tired. I’m floating…floating…floating…

**

                As soon as the boy is asleep, I begin dinner. Only the best for my special guest. I’ve been waiting for him for over one hundred years. The others who came before are ready. The girl makes a delicious meatloaf, her mother makes wine, and the little boy makes a great fruit punch. The old man, as I predicted, was useless.

**

                I wake up feeling confused.

                “There you are. Dinner is ready, are you hungry?” I am. For the first time, she steps out of the shadows. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, even more beautiful than Miss Teacher, who all the boys had fantasies about.

                “Why don’t we eat, and I’ll tell you a little story.” I’d do anything she told me.

                She leads me to a table and puts a plate of meatloaf and a glass of fruit punch in front of me. I take a bite. It’s delicious.

                “You look just like your great grandfather,” she says. I put down my fork.

                “You knew my great grandfather?” 

                “Ah, yes. Every one hundred years the middle child in a family of five visits me. Did you know that your great grandfather was a middle brother? He was.”     

                I begin to notice tiny imperfections within the woman. Her hair isn’t as glossy, her eyes aren’t as shiny, and her skin is slightly grey.

                “How do you stay so young?” I ask, afraid of the answer.

                “Well, my darling, as I said every one hundred years a new middle child comes along, the year they turn eighteen. And then, for one hundred years they live with me, keeping me healthy.”

                I think this woman must be crazy.

                “How? How do they keep you healthy?”

                “With the flesh and blood of all the wrong ones who try to visit me, of course.”

                The world goes black.


End file.
